Chorba or shorba (from

dialectal Arabic The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable variat ...

; from , 'to drink') is a broad class of

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables a ...

s or rich

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling soli ...

s found in national cuisines across the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It is often prepared with added ingredients but served alone as a broth or with bread.

Etymology

''Chorba'', or ''shorba'', is variously derived from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

word meaning 'gravy' or from a Persian term from (, 'salty, brackish') and /, (/, 'water/stew') or from a hypothetical cognate word common to

and Persian. Chorba is also called ( am, ሾርባ), ( uz, шўрва), ( ps, شوروا), ( bg, чорба), (

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

), (

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...

), (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

), (russian: шурпа), ( ug, شورپا / ), ( Turkish), ( ky, шорпо) and ( kk, сорпа). In the Indian subcontinent, the term in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

() simply means

gravy Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt (a simple mix of sa ...

. It is a Mughlai dish and it has vegetarian forms such as tomato shorba.

Types

Shorwa is a traditional Afghan dish which is a simple dish which is usually mixed with bread on the dastarkhān. It is a long process and a pressure-cooker is usually used, as it reduces the process to 2 hours. The main ingredients for shorwa are potatoes, beans and meat. It is commonly served with Afghan bread. Ciorbă, as called in

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, consists of various vegetables, meat and herbs. Borș is a sour soup that is used in the Moldova region. It is also has beneficial health effects. It is served hot to stimulate digestion and be effective against colds. There are several types of this dish, such as

ciorbă de perișoare Ciorbă de perișoare is a Romanian traditional sour soup with meatballs. Perișoare are meatballs usually made with minced pork meat, mixed with rice and spices and boiled in a ciorbă—a soup with vegetables such as onions, parsnips and cel ...

leek soup The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a plant stem, s ...

, Romanian borscht, and

borș de burechiușe Borș de burechiușe or borș de burechițe or supă de găluște is a Romanian and Moldovan dish specific from the regional cuisine of Moldavia and of Bukovina. Burechiușe or ''gălușcă'' also known as ''urechiușe'' (little ears) is a dough i ...

Gallery

File:Shorwa.JPG, Traditional

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pash ...

shorwa File:Chorba.jpg, Algerian chorba File:Begova Čorba (Baščaršija in Sarajevo, Bosnia).JPG, Bosnian ''begova čorba'' and somun bread File:Ready kurban chorba.JPG, Bulgarian Kurban chorba File:Shorpo.jpg,

Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan *Kyrgyz people *Kyrgyz national games *Kyrgyz language *Kyrgyz culture *Kyrgyz cuisine *Yenisei Kirghiz *The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China ...

shorpo File:Pileća corba.jpg,

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

chicken čorba File:Ciorba.jpg,

ciorbă File:Chorba frik algerienne.jpg, Algerian chorba frik

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corba Turkish soups Turkish words and phrases Bosnia and Herzegovina cuisine Indian cuisine Kazakhstani cuisine Kyrgyz cuisine Pakistani soups and stews Arab cuisine Uzbekistani cuisine Romanian cuisine Moldovan cuisine Uyghur cuisine Tajik cuisine Soviet cuisine Bulgarian cuisine Iranian soups tr:Çorba